


Worth It

by LadyofShalott



Series: Circus 'verse [2]
Category: Leverage
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-14
Updated: 2012-08-14
Packaged: 2017-11-12 04:23:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/486644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyofShalott/pseuds/LadyofShalott
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nate finally tracks Eliot down</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worth It

**Author's Note:**

> These characters are property of the creators of Leverage. I'm just borrowing them. No copyright infringement is intended.

Nate knew the moment Eliot sensed that someone was approaching, because the entire line of his body went tense. He smiled as the horse Eliot was working with nuzzled him as if to offer comfort, and Eliot's hand went up to stroke its mane and neck.

"Do you have any clue how hard it is to find you when you don't want to be found?"

"That's kind of the idea. What the hell are you doing here, Nate?"

The words were sharp, harsh, but Nate could hear the undercurrent of pain in them. He wasn't sure what hurt him more -- the fact that he'd hurt Eliot that badly or the fact that Eliot wouldn't even turn around.

"I missed you."

"I'm workin' here, Nate."

Nate thought that would have been a lot more effective if Eliot's voice hadn't broken there at the end.

"I screwed up."

"Yeah, you did."

"I can't believe you ran away with the circus."

"Figured it was the best option since they never stay in one place long. They needed somebody to take care of the horses. I'm good with horses."

"Eliot..."

Eliot whirled around to face him. "Watchin' you drink yourself into an early grave was killing me, okay? I figured that hearing you'd finally succeeded would be a hell of a lot easier than staying there to watch it!"

"I've been sober for eight months, Eliot. My last drink was the day you left. It hit me then that I had lost the best thing in my life." He reached out then; rested a hand on Eliot's shoulder, and was relieved when Eliot didn't shrug him off or jerk away. "Are you happy here?"

"I'm content."

Eliot finally met Nate's eyes, and Nate could see then how much damage he'd done...how much pain he'd caused.

"I love you, Eliot. I didn't realize how much until I lost you. I needed to tell you that. And that I'm sorry, because I never meant to hurt you... I never meant to let the drinking get as far as it did. I thought I could control it, but I've realized that I was out of control for a long time."

"I love you, too," Eliot replied, barely above a whisper. "That's why I had to leave."

"I understand that now."

"I couldn't make excuses any more. I couldn't....it was bad, Nate. You were a wreck, and you had to learn to pick up the pieces on your own because I couldn't do it for you when you were breaking me, too."

That was as close to tears as Nate had ever seen Eliot. His heart broke a little more.

"Come home with me, Eliot. Please? I...." He looked into Eliot's eyes again. "I know that I _can_ do this without you. The thing is, I don't want to. Forgive me from being an ass and come home?"

Eliot sighed. "I'm tired, Nate. I'm tired of the con. I'm tired of getting beat up, I'm tired of beating people up....and frankly, you have a tendency to go off the rails in those situations. If you can promise me that home does not include going back to that, and if you can promise me you're going to stay sober...then yeah, I'll come home."

"I was looking at this place...there's a huge house with an amazing kitchen, acres of land so you could garden...plenty of room for horses, too. I want to retire and have a normal life and a normal home, but somewhere along the way I've realized that nowhere is going to feel like home without you."

"You're lucky I believe in second chances." 

"I'm lucky you believed in the first one." He draped an arm around Eliot's shoulders as they walked. "But thank you for the second one."

The smile he received in return made the misery he'd been through over the previous eight months completely worth it.


End file.
